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It was common practice for would-be automotive
engineers to tinker with the ubiquitous Austin
7, but Alan and Richard Jensen went one step
further than most, removing the body entirely
to fit their own race version to the chassis,
at the time the brothers still mere apprentices
in the Birmingham motor industry. Their hand-crafted
Austin would catch the eye of the Standard Motor
Company’s Chief Engineer, leading to them
being given the contract to create something
similar on a Standard chassis.
In 1931 the brothers
joined W. J. Smith & Sons body works in West
Bromwich, and in 1935 the first of their designs
was revealed, an open tourer powered by a 3.5
litre Ford V8. Dubbed the “While Lady”,
most commentators consider this to be the first
true Jensen. In 1936 William Smith would pass,
and the company would be renamed Jensen Motors.
Profits from wartime contracts would ensure the
company was financially able to get a good start
after the war, their first iteration being the
1948 Jensen PW, a large luxury saloon aimed at
the well heeled.
1950 would see the introduction
of the Interceptor, featuring a sleek streamlined
appearance and constructed from light alloy it
was powered by Austin’s 4 litre six. The
541, first seen in prototype form in 1953, entered
series production in 1955 and, like the Interceptor,
it was powered by the Austin six, but was revolutionary
in its use of a fiberglass body. Desirable as
long range touring cars, 541's continued in production
until 1962 when a much more powerful Jensen grand
tourer made its debut. The C-V8 boasted a 6 litre
Chrysler engine and was one of the fastest four-seaters
around; production had reached 500 by 1966 when
the decision was made to contract the firm's
next body design out to Italy.
The Jensen brothers
were not too happy with the decision, and given
their ill health and age decided to call it a
day. Later that year two new steel-bodied Jensen’s
made their debut at Earls Court, the Touring-designed
Interceptor and the similarly styled but radically
different FF, a four-wheel drive variant with
Maxaret anti-lock braking. Financial problems
would see the company taken over by Brandts Bank
in 1968, then in 1970 another takeover by American
Kjell Qvale, he wanting the company to develop
Donald Healey’s new sports car. Prototypes
of what would become the Jensen-Healey, with
a Lotus 16-valve engine, were running in 1971,
the year in which the FF was phased out and up-rated
versions of the Interceptor were introduced.
Now Jensen-Healey, the company entered production
in 1972 and for a time things looked positive,
but the oil crisis combined with ongoing reliability
and quality control issues would take its toll
on the company. The writing was on the wall,
and in 1975 the receivers were called in. |
